Pro-Ject’s Stream Box S2 Ultra is full of surprises

Turntables and flowers – a familiar sight for those visiting Pro-Ject’s large display at Munich High-End. This year, CEO and founder Heinz Lichtenegger’s standing as the world’s largest turntable manufacturer grew a little further with the news-rumour that he has acquired UK electronics manufacturer Musical Fidelity and has been appointed “European ambassador/distributor for Music Hall” (for whom Pro-Ject handles OEM).

Taking aim at a younger, hipper demographic is Pro-Ject’s increasingly large army of electronics. Here we zoom in on the latest model.

The Stream Box Ultra S2 is a Raspberry Pi-based network bridge – wifi/Ethernet in, ‘optimised’ USB out – loaded with low noise power supplies that have this fist-sized unit do double duty as a USB pipe cleaner (think: Schiit Wyrd more than AudioQuest Jitterbug).

When the Stream Box S2 Ultra begins shipping in a month or two it will land with support for UPnP, Roon, Tidal, Spotify Connect, Internet Radio, Shairport-powered Airplay and an iOS/Android control app. The unit’s HDMI output is for video only but its utility should not be underestimated. Pro-Ject’s Felix Grill goes deeper on details than the press release:

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Pro-Ject had acquired Music Hall. This was incorrect. Roy Hall still owns and controls Music Hall with Pro-Ject his new “European ambassador”.